Heating means for dump body doors



Oct. 26, 1954 H. RIT-n-:NHousE HEATING MEANS FOR DUMP BODY DOORS Filed Nov. 15, 1951 Patented Oct. 26, 1954 Umm sier ES; PMENT.,A OFFICE,

2,692,796 HEAVIING MEANS FORDUMP BODY DOORS` el r1. .sciistica r.. L.. x Harvey L. Rittenhouse, Cleveland Heights, Ohio, rassignor, by-mesne assignments, to Greifleral'` Motors Corporation, Detroit, Mich., a corpora-` This invention relatesv to improvements in f ioorsand` more particularly "to heated )doors for dump bodies or wagons 4for operation sin subfreezing weather. I

One r of the objects of the present invention is to .provide in a door for aI dump body -of the type.. described a hot `gas conveying-means associated-with the door to=prevent freezingofqthe moisture in the-dump body loadduring sub-freezing weather. Y

`Other features of this invention reside in the arrangement and'design of the parts for carrying out their appropriate function.U A

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the-accompanying drawings and description and the essential fea-` tures will be set `forth the appended claims.

In the drawings, i i Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of `a bottom dump .body or wagon having the heated doors off.this invention and being attached to a` propelling vehicle Fig.` .2 is an end View of the dump wagon taken along. the line 2 2 of Fig.' l and showing the doors intheir closedposition; T

Fig. is a view similarto Fing. 2 but showing the doors in their open dposition;while i 'l-ig e is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 5 4 of Fig. 2.

While this invention might be adapted to varit ons types of vehicles-or dump bodies, the drawings disclose it applied to a conventional type of bottom dump bodyor wagon. The propelling vehicl'evis indicated generally at II. This vehicle'm'ay be a tractor ori any otherltype of prime mover. 1i 'Ihe bottom dump :body on wagoii I 2 `'hasA a draw bar I4 pivotally attached to the vehicle by a hitch I3. The hot gas for heating the doors might be provided from any source on the prime mover but I prefer to use exhaust gases from the vehicle motor, here an internal combustion engine, emerging from the exhaust pipe I5. A iiexible conduit I5a connects the exhaust pipe of the vehicle to the dump body I2 having the doors to be heated. The conduit includes a coupling I6 forming a swivel connection in the conduit so that the section attached to the exhaust pipe may swivel with respect to the section attached to the bottom dump wagon. The axis of coupling I6 is parallel to the vertical pivot of hitch I3. This swivel permits 9G degree turning between tractor II and trailer wagon I2 while maintaining the exhaust pipe connection.

The bottom dump body or wagon I2 has an open top for loading. It is mounted on wheels and pivotally attached to the propelling vehicle as a semi-trailer. The downwardly inclined side walls Hand the sideror end"walls"|8"jand 'I9' form the sides oftheA dump body toenclose'and` support the loadkr Bottom'dump 'doors't'ii and 2'I are pivotally mountedgat-ZZ 4and-231,0n side walls lit-and IS respectively. The pivots `22;'and 23' beyond the edges ofthe'bottornopening'oi the Means may be provided for interconnecting the doors ior relative simultaneous movement between the-open and closed-positions; This means may take the A form Yoithe gear` segmentsY 2i disclosed in the copendingsapplication vof` Stewart F. Armington on Clam'ShellEDoorC'onstruction, Serial N o. Mlfllgledjugust ll, 1951.

door 2li or 21,.`

The doors Eiland 2l are fabricated from steel plates, cut to size, formed; :and .themwelide'd tor' nollowed out portions or cavities llrrand 21d e'x-" tending throughout@theirl length^and' .being formed between-the` tops-and ,bottom platesfofv0 each'door: These cavities 26a-tand' 2I afare"openv at -both ends asshown by apertures" fiiib :and: 21h" respectivelyf* Means is provided for conveying hot gases to the cavity in each door for supplying the heat thereto. After the hot exhaust gases emerge from the exhaust pipe I5, they are carried through the flexible conduit i5a with the swivel coupling I6 to the inverted T-shaped hot gas conduit 25 attached to the side wall I8 by the bracket 2E. The vertical stem 21 of the T is located in a vertical plane substantially equal distance from the doors 20 and 2| and is attached to the central portion of the cross bar 28 of the T. The cross bar of the T or manifold overlies the ends of each door in closed position. as seen in Fig. 2, and has ports or apertures 28a and 28h near to its outer ends and alignable respectively with apertures 20h and 2lb in the leading edges of the doors when they are in their closed position in Fig. 2. Hot exhaust gases ilow from the exhaust pipe I5, through the iiexible conduit I5a The drawings in the present applicationL have these denoted as rotatably: mounted 'gearl segments 213,213, in Fig. Zjvth each:connectedAv by an arm 24a, located midway along thelengtlr dump body I2,toits respective'bottom'durnp 3 into the hollow T-shaped conduit 25, through the apertures 28a and 20D and apertures 2819 and 2lb into the longitudinal cavities in the respective doors, and then through the apertures 202) and 2lb at the rear of the doors (at the right in Fig. 1) into theatmosphere.

When the doors are in their open position shown in Fig. 3, they no longer receive the hot exhaust gases from the T-shaped conduit. Instead, the hot gases emerging from apertures 28a and 23h are carried upwardly by the natural convection of the air into the load in the dump body to aid in the thawing of any frozen masses therein.

These heated bottom doors of the dump body or wagon are ideally suited for use in sub-freezing weather. Normally, the moisture in the load in the dump body or wagon will freeze and form a bridge between the downwardly inclined side walls Il of a dumping wagon of this type. This bridge prevents easy dumping of the load because it blocks the free, downward flow of the material from the wagon. In this invention, the hot exahust vgases being conveyed through the load supporting bottom dump doors of the dump body or wagon prevent the moisture from freezing and insure easy, unobstructed load dumping under all weather conditions. The heated, bottom doors of this invention may be either used alone with a wagon as disclosed herein or used with a bottom dump wagon having heated side walls, as disclosed in the copending application of Harvey L. Rittenhouse on Exhaust Heating Semi-Trailer Bodies, Serial No. 226,687, filed May 16, 1951.

Various changes in detail and arrangement of parts can be made by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of this invention or the scope of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. In combination, a bottom dump body having opposite sidewalls and a bottom dump opening, a pair of doors, each door being pivotally mounted on said walls, said doors being movable between a closed position wherein both of said doors are under said opening and an open position wherein both of said doors are swung laterally outwardly beyond the edges of said opening, means interconnecting said doors for relative simultaneous movement between said positions, a hot gas conveying manifold attached to one of said side walls and overlying the end of each door, said manifold having spaced ports, one port facing each door, each door having a cavity extending under substantially the entire load supporting surface of each door, and each said cavity having an opening aligned with one of said ports when the doors are in closed position, whereby the hot gases circulate through the cavities in the doors to heat them during sub-freezing weather and for preventing the freezing of any moisture in the dump body load, the forming of a bridge in the load and to promote the easy dumping of the load.

2. In a load hauling machine, a propelling vehicle having a hot exhaust gas pipe, a dump body attached to said propelling vehicle, said dump body having a door movable between open and closed positions, said door having a cavity open at both ends, a conduit connected to said exhaust pipe and alignable with one open end of said cavity at least when said door is in said closed position, whereby the hot gases circulate through the door cavity to heat it during subfreezing weather and for preventing the freeezing of any moisture in the dump body load, the forming of a bridge in the load and to promote the easy dumping of the load.

3. In a load hauling machine, a propelling vehicle having a hot exhaust gas pipe, a bottom dump body pivotally attached to said propelling vehicle as a semi-trailer, said bottom dump body having opposite side walls and a bottom dump opening, a pair of doors, each door being pivotally mounted on said walls, said doors being movable between a closed position wherein both of said doors are undersaid opening and an open position wherein both of said doors are swung laterally outwardly beyond the edges of said opening, means interconnecting said doors for relative simultaneous movement between said positions, a hot gas conveying manifold attached to one of said side walls and overlying the end of each door, a flexible conduit connected to said exhaust pipe and the manifold, said manifold having spaced ports, one port facing each door, each door having a cavity aligned with one of said ports when the doors are in closed position, whereby the hot gases circulate through the cavities in the doors to heat them during sub-freezing weather and for preventing the freezing of any moisture in the dump body load, the forming of a bridge in the load and to promote the easy dumping of the load.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 873,187 Taylor et al Dec. 10, 1907 2,494,472 De Saussure Jan. l0, 1950 

